Equities in Canada’s largest market turned positive shortly after the open, driven higher by better-than-expected results from BlackBerry Ltd and buoyant energy stocks amid higher crude prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index acquired 11.05 points to open Thursday at 15,620.71
The Canadian dollar restored 0.09 cents to 80.23 cents U.S
BlackBerry posted a rise in second-quarter adjusted profit on lower revenue as sales at its closely watched software business hit a record.
BlackBerry shares jumped $1.37, or 11.9%, to $12.90.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said that Boeing was undermining its relationship with Britain by its behaviour in a dispute with Canadian rival
Bombardier that has put 4,200 jobs at risk in Northern Ireland.
Shares in Bombardier gained six cents, or 2.9%, to $2.16.
A senior executive of Royal Bank of Canada says Canada’s biggest bank is experimenting with blockchain to help move payments between its U.S. and Canadian banks.
RBC shares lost six cents to $95.38.
Eight Capital cut the target price on eCobalt Solutions to $2.10 from $2.20. Shares in eCobalt lost two cents, or 1.6%, to $1.27.
CIBC raised the price target on Linamar Corp to $81.00 from $69.00. Linamar shares surged $1.19, or 1.6%, to $76.18.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $970 in July, little changed from the previous month. Compared with July 2016, earnings were up 1.8%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regrouped 0.62 points to 776.23
Eight of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive at the start of trade Thursday, with information technology ahead 0.8%, gold up 0.5%, and materials ahead 0.3%.
The four laggards were weighed most by health-care, down 1.3%, telecoms, off 0.3%, and real-estate, sliding 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks traded lower Thursday after the release of the GOP's highly anticipated tax reform plan.
The Dow Jones Industrials swooned 6.35 points to 22,334.36, with Boeing and IBM contributing the most to declines. McDonald's had the greatest positive impact on the index.
The S&P 500 slipped 1.02 points to 2,506.02. Utilities stocks were the greatest decliners, while energy stocks led a handful of stock sectors higher. Financial stocks attempted gains.
The NASDAQ docked 8.81 to 6,444.45
In economic news, the final read on U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product showed a 3.1% increase. Weekly jobless claims rose slightly to 272,000.
The GOP tax plan released Wednesday breaks rates down into three categories and cuts corporate tax rates. The plan also seeks to give companies a break for profits stashed overseas while doubling the standard deduction for most filers
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slumped, hiking yields to 2.33% from Wednesday’s 2.3%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 32 cents a barrel to $52.46 U.S.
Gold prices dropped $2.20 to $1,285.60 U.S. an ounce
